breed

/ˈbɹiːd/

breed verb: to produce offspring sexually; to bear young. Also the ellipsis of half-breed.

Verb

breed (third-person singular simple present breeds, present participle breeding, simple past and past participle bred)

To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
- Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
(transitive) To give birth to; to be the native place of.
- A pond breeds fish.
- A northern country breeds stout men.
To mate.
(transitive) To keep (animals) and have (them) reproduce in a way that improves the next generation's qualities.
(often, transitive) To arrange the mating of (specific animals).
- She wanted to breed her cow to the neighbor's registered bull.
To propagate or grow (plants) in an effort to give (them) certain qualities.
- He tries to breed blue roses.
To take care of in infancy and through childhood; to bring up.
- born and bred
- Ah wretched me! by fates averſe, decreed, / To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed!a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760...
Synonyms:

raise, bring up, rear
To yield or result in.
- disaster breeds famine
- familiarity breeds contempt
(intransitive, obsolete) To be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated or to grow, like young before birth.
(sometimes) To educate; to instruct; to bring up.
- No care was taken to breed him a Protestant.a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, edited by [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Thomas Ward […], published...
- His farm may not […] remove his children too far from him, or the trade he breeds them up in.1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC
To produce or obtain by any natural process.
- Children would breed their teeth with much less danger.1693, [John Locke], “§13”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC
(intransitive) To have birth; to be produced, developed, or multiplied.
- Fair encounter
  Of two most rare affections! Heavens rain grace
  On that which breed between 'em!1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
(slang, transitive, vulgar) To ejaculate inside (a person or a bodily orifice of same); to creampie.
- “God, I love your ass,” he says, his voice almost a growl. “I'm gonna breed this ass tonight.”2018, Cassandra Dee, Paying My Boyfriend's Debt: A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance, Cassandra Dee Romance via PublishDrive
- “ Yes,” I said. “You want to fuck me, and I submit to you. My body is yours. Stuff me. Fill me. Breed my ass. Seed me, my love.2015, David Holly, The Heart's Eternal Desire, Bold Strokes Books Inc, →ISBN
Synonyms:

creampie, cream

Noun

breed (plural breeds)

All animals or plants of the same species or subspecies.
- a breed of tulip
- a breed of animal
A race or lineage; offspring or issue.
- And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
  Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC
(informal) A group of people with shared characteristics.
- People who were taught classical Greek and Latin at school are a dying breed.

Proper noun capitalized: Breed

Breed (countable and uncountable, plural Breeds)

A surname.
A town and unincorporated community therein, in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after postmaster George M. Breed.

Also used as

breed is also the ellipsis of half-breed.

breed meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Arabic and Malay

breed in Hindi

race or lineage: ज़ात zāt, बिरादरी birādrī, जिनस jinas, जिंस jins, कुल kul, वंश vañś

breed in Tamil

all animals or plants of the same species or subspecies: இனம் iṉam
race or lineage: இனம் iṉam

breed in Arabic

to take care of in infancy and through childhood: رَبَّى rabbā

breed in Malay

all animals or plants of the same species or subspecies: baka

More languagesFewer languages

breed in Indonesian: beranak, berkembang-biak, mengembang-biakkan

Examples of breed in a sentence

All breeds of dog are variants of the species “Canis lupus familiaris”.
Pink- and apricot-coloured irises have also been bred in some species.
This breed of canary is unflighted for the first six months of its life.

All 40 example sentences with breed

Synonyms of breed

All synonyms of breed

Forms of breed

Verb
third-person singular present	breeds
present participle	breeding
past participle	bred
past	bred
alternative form (archaic)	breede
Noun
plural	breeds
Proper noun
plural	Breeds

Past tense of breed: bred

Plural of breed: breeds

Origin of breed

Inherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröden, Dutch broeden, German brüten.

Words formed from breed

Phrases with breed

old enough to bleed, old enough to breed

Words that rhyme with breed

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about breed

What does breed mean?: Breed means to produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
What is breed in Hindi?: Breed in Hindi is ज़ात (zāt), बिरादरी (birādrī), जिनस (jinas). See Breed meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is breed?: Breed can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce breed?: Breed is pronounced /ˈbɹiːd/.
What is the past tense of breed?: The past tense of breed is bred.

Words near breed in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: breed (page history and authors); Breed (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-breed.ogg.

Cite this entry: “breed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/breed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.